The Bachelors: TV insider reveals surprise reason why show will 'never be cancelled'

This year's season of The Bachelors has attracted the franchise's lowest ratings ever, after consistently losing hundreds of thousands of viewers over the last five years as fans tire of what was once Channel 10's biggest show.

Earlier this month, the 11th season premiered to just 224,000 five-city metro viewers, down from season 10's 309,000 premiere and a far cry from the show's peak in 2018 when over one million people tuned in to watch Nick 'Honey Badger' Cummins make his debut as The Bachelor.

Speaking to Yahoo Lifestyle, a TV executive explained there's one surprising reason they believe Channel 10 “will never” cancel the failing show, despite the public's lack of interest.

The insider said: “A minimum of 55% of the content aired on all commercial networks in Australia is legally required to be produced locally, within Australia.

"In my opinion, that's why Network Ten haven't canned The Bachelors yet – they've just scaled it down to a point now where it's one of their cheapest things to produce and shove it on during a non-ratings period to meet their quota. Until they find something just as budget to replace it, I can't see them ever cancelling it.”

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In October 2020, the Australian government “maintained [commercial networks had a] requirement to produce 55% of Australian content on all primary networks and 1460 hours on non-primary channels”.

Similarly, commercial Australian radio stations are also legally required to air a specific amount of music recorded and produced by Australian artists.

The insider added that Ten “had hoped” to bring The Bachelor franchise back to its peak by casting big-name celebrity leads this year – but after the likes of Jackie O Henderson and Braith Anasta declined offers – they resorted back to “unknown” or “minor influencer” leads, which has “helped keep the cost of producing the show down”.

“It'd be like the kiss of death to your career to sign up to The Bachelors at this point,” the insider said of why celebrities are now saying no to fronting the show.

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